| Date: 15 August 1968 |
| Aircraft type: RF-4C Phantom |
| Serial Number: 66-0447 |
| Military Unit: 14 TRS, 432 TRW |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Udorn |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Terrin Dinsmore Hicks (KIA) |
| Capt Joseph Francis Shanahan (POW) |
| A Phantom from Udorn was despatched on a solo reconnaissance mission in Route Package I. The aircraft (call sign Dobe) was hit by ground fire as it was flying over the mouth of the Sou Giang River, 15 miles northwest of Dong Hoi. Both the crew managed to eject and spoke to each other as they descended by parachute. They landed about one mile from each other, on opposite sides of a hill. Capt Shanahan landed in a village and was captured almost immediately and heard gunshots from the other side of the hill. Shanahan was later given Capt Hicks’s boots to wear as his own had been stolen. It would appear that Capt Hicks was killed by North Vietnamese militia during his attempt to evade capture. His identity cards were handed over by the Vietnamese in November 1985. The following month the Vietnamese handed over seven sets of remains, one of which was claimed to be those of Capt Hicks, but this could not be confirmed. Maj Shanahan had flown 192 missions during two tours in Southeast Asia and was released from captivity on 14 March 1973. |
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